Nasrallah: Border with Syria Must Not Be Closed, Syria in Danger of Partition

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah rejected on Thursday a suggestion that the Lebanese-Syrian border be closed due to the state's inability to support the burden of refugees pouring in from the war-torn country.

He said during a televised speech marking 40 days after Ashura: “The border with Syria should not be shut and the refugees, regardless if they support or oppose the Syrian regime, should be hosted in Lebanon.”

He warned that Syria and the entire region is facing a threat of division along sectarian, religious, and ethnic lines.

"We fundamentally and ideologically reject any form of partition or division of any Arab or Islamic country and call for them to preserve their unity," he stated.

"From Yemen to Iraq to Syria, the region is threatened more than ever by partition, even in Egypt and Libya and Saudi Arabia,” Nasrallah declared.

"We in Lebanon and in the region are living through one of the most important and dangerous phases, an atmosphere of strife," he added.

“The Lebanese must commit to the unity of their nation, land, people, and institutions,” he stressed.

On Lebanon's handling of the Syrian crisis, he noted that various political powers have differences on how to tackle the issue, but they are in agreement over avoiding the spread of the unrest to Lebanon.

Other powers, however, seek to spread the unrest to Lebanon through creating sectarian tensions in order to spark violence in the country, he noted.

Nasrallah praised the government for preventing the spread of the instability in Syria to Lebanon, indirectly noting that had the March 14 camp “been in power, then the country would indeed have been linked to the unrest in Syria.”

“Hizbullah has long called for calm and against being dragged into any conflict through its commitment to mutual coexistence,” he remarked.

Commenting on the flow of refugees from Syria to Lebanon, Nasrallah said: “This issue should be tackled from a purely humanitarian perspective and not be linked to political affairs.”

“The border with Syria should not be shut for any reason,” he stressed.

“The real solution to the flow of refugees does not lie in closing the border, but in working on reaching a political solution in Syria that would help halt the bloodshed,” he declared.

“Those responsible for the ongoing flood of refugees are the sides preventing this solution, whether from within Syria or on the regional and international scenes,” explained the Hizbullah leader.

In addition, Nasrallah called on the Lebanese government to “develop” its political position on Syria in a manner that does not contradict its policy of disassociation.

“Lebanon should explain to the United States, European powers, Arab League, and United Nations that it can no longer support the humanitarian and social burden of the refugees,” he said.

“Lebanon must also push for a political solution in Syria along with other concerned states,” he stressed.

Addressing the case of abducted Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria, he remarked: “It has become evident that some sides are exploiting this issue for political purposes.”

Various local and regional efforts have failed in resolving this issue, he noted.

He therefore called on the state to hold direct negotiations with the abductors in Syria's Aazaz region.

Moreover, he said that the government must also exert pressure on the countries that wield influence in this file, accusing Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar of funding and arming the armed groups in Syria.

Nasrallah urged the state to either exert more efforts to end the plight of the pilgrims or acknowledge its failure.

“Once it acknowledges its failure, then we will see how we can tackle this issue,” he stressed.

Timeline

03 January 2013, 15:27

Nasrallah: We derive our strength from Karbala.

03 January 2013, 15:26

Nasrallah on claims that Hizbullah's arms arsenal is dwindling: You are wrong in comparing our strength to the size of our arsenal.

03 January 2013, 15:24

Nasrallah: Hizbullah succeeded in defeating Israel and other sides that claim to be resistance powers.

03 January 2013, 15:24

Nasrallah: Israel and the U.S. are attempting to place Hizbullah on the terrorism black list.

03 January 2013, 15:22

Nasrallah: We are incapable of reaching a national defense strategy because some sides are placing impossible preconditions on the matter.

03 January 2013, 15:21

Nasrallah: A defense strategy to defend the oil and gas wealth should be devised.

03 January 2013, 15:18

Nasrallah: The oil and gas file is not linked to any political party or position, but the wealth belongs to the whole of Lebanon.

03 January 2013, 15:18

Nasrallah: The current government has made fundamental achievements in the oil and gas file.

03 January 2013, 15:17

Nasrallah: Some sides claim that regional developments are linked to the discovery of this wealth.

03 January 2013, 15:16

Nasrallah on oil and gas file: Previous states are responsible for the current poor economic situation in Lebanon. We hope the natural resources wealth will positively affect Lebanon.

03 January 2013, 15:15

Nasrallah: The families of the pilgrims are right in voicing their anger over the state's failure to resolve the abduction.

03 January 2013, 15:14

Nasrallah: I call on the families of the pilgrims to continue on banking on the state to resolve the problem. If the state is incapable, then it should admit it.

03 January 2013, 15:13

Nasrallah: Let us not kid ourselves in believing that foreign countries do not have influence in ending the case of the pilgrims. Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia are responsible for resolving this case.

03 January 2013, 15:12

Nasrallah: I call on the state to carry out direct negotiations with the abductors.

03 January 2013, 15:12

Nasrallah: The families of the pilgrims do not need to resort to street action if they sense that the government is exerting efforts to resolve this issue. I personally believe that the state has not done enough to resolve the issue.

03 January 2013, 15:10

Nasrallah on case of abducted pilgrims in Syria: It has become apparent that this issue is being exploited for political purposes.

03 January 2013, 15:09

Nasrallah: I call on the Lebanese state and government to develop their political position in a manner that does not contradict the policy of disassociation. Lebanon should address the U.S. and other influential powers and explain that it can no longer support the burden of the Syrian crisis.

03 January 2013, 15:07

Nasrallah: Those responsible for the ongoing flood of refugees are those who are fueling the bloodshed, whether in Syria or on the regional and international scenes.

03 January 2013, 15:06

Nasrallah: The real solution to ending the case of the refugees lies in tackling the source of the problem, which entails implementing a political solution in Syria.

03 January 2013, 15:05

Nasrallah: I call on all the people to take in the refugees despite the economic hardships Lebanon is facing.

03 January 2013, 15:04

Nasrallah: We completely reject the closure of the border for whatever reason. We must accept the current humanitarian reality and support its various consequences.

03 January 2013, 15:04

Nasrallah: We call for approaching this issue from a humanitarian perspective, not a political one, regardless of the displaced people's affiliations to the Syrian regime.

03 January 2013, 15:02

Nasrallah on flood of refugees fleeing Syria to Lebanon: Their case is a major humanitarian one.

03 January 2013, 15:02

Nasrallah: Our position is a sign of strength not weakness.

03 January 2013, 15:01

Nasrallah: All sides, along with politicians and clerics, are required to bolster ties between each other in order to thwart strife.

03 January 2013, 14:59

Nasrallah: Some sides employed sectarian tensions in order to create Syria-linked strife in Lebanon.

03 January 2013, 14:58

Nasrallah: Some sides are eager to bring the Syrian conflict to Lebanon.

03 January 2013, 14:57

Nasrallah: Each side in Lebanon is entitled to their own views on the Syrian conflict, but we must all agree to thwart the spread of the unrest to Lebanon.

03 January 2013, 14:56

Nasrallah: Lebanon is being affected by the war in Syria.

03 January 2013, 14:55

Nasrallah: We must acknowledge that Lebanon is the country that is affected the most from regional developments, especially those in Syria.

03 January 2013, 14:54

Nasrallah on Lebanon: We are committed to Lebanon's unity through its people, state, institutions, and land. The people should reject any plan to divide the country into statelets or Islamic emirates.

03 January 2013, 14:53

Nasrallah: We call for maintaining the unity of the nations of the region.

03 January 2013, 14:52

Nasrallah: The greatest threat facing Lebanon and the region is the plan aimed at redividing the region along sectarian, religious, and ethnic lines, which we reject.

03 January 2013, 14:50

Nasrallah: Those preventing Christians from performing their rituals contradict the values of Islam.

03 January 2013, 14:50

Nasrallah: Christians have been allowed to practice their traditions ever since the beginning of Islam.

03 January 2013, 14:47

Nasrallah: The kidnapping of pilgrims will not thwart them from heading to holy sites.

03 January 2013, 14:47

Nasrallah: None of the attacks in Karbala will thwart the pilgrims from heading their.

03 January 2013, 14:39

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during speech marking 40 days after Ashura: I salute the people who came far and wide to commemorate this occasion.

are you sure you're from kesrwan? coz we're known for being cultivated and you're far from being so... 1st when a people controls a region it doesn't ask who came first: they just rule! secondly in Iran Christians and jews community are free to practice their religion unlike KSA, Kuwait and other salafi countries supporting M14 leftovers (aka future, Geagea...)so read my friend

FT, are you trying to tell me that UNPAID HA supporters were present at the sitin downtown for 18 months? Don't kid yourself, all of HA's supporters are paid or 'induced' into showing up. It is taken from the Baath handbook than ASSad and Saddam used and borrowed from the Iranians. It is not unusual and is prevalent in many dictatorships from China to Russia to Cuba to Burma.

neon thing: tell us then that in dahiye all is democratic, people are free to do whatever, no one is watched by hezbi police, hezbi police doesn t know anything about you and your family and who visits you, that you can be against hezbollah....and so on...

tell us then about the freedom of hezbollah and how democratic it is, that hezbis love sunnis, that they are not an islamic resistance, that they are not extremists like the salafis, as i am not educated like you, university teacher!!!

"Nasrallah: The families of the pilgrims do not need to resort to street action if they sense that the government is exerting efforts to resolve this issue. I personally believe that the state has not done enough to resolve the issue"

So he is calling for street action against his own government ?... Lol n3ada men 3oun

Nasrallah on Lebanon: We are committed to Lebanon's unity through its people, state, institutions, and land. The people should reject any plan to divide the country into statelets or Islamic emirates. 25 minutes ago

... Wow he didn't say resistance !? What the heck is going on?.. Did he forget or is this a sign of something new ?

"Our position is a sign of strength not weakness" why does Na7esallah feel the need to tell the Ashura brain damaged sheep this every single time? I mean they are illiterate idiots I know but even they can smell the stench of the worthless Iranian currency that used to finance Na7esallah's terrorist organization and even they can feel the lawlessness caused by Na7esallah's thugs to make up for his decaying Iranian largess.

An-Nahar: Misquote after misquote after misquote. Any chance of objectivity, or at least get some one who translate English? I just listened to the speech and it was nothing compared to what is written above.

how pretentious you are to know who i am and how i thnk! it is called stupidity and arrogance poor FT...
well i didn t change my point of view on hezbollah unlike you and aoun... you try to justify his flipflopping by accusing others, so easy and so weak, but it doesn t surprise me...
let us remind you that all lebanese were behind hezb when lebanon was occupied, but since 2000 they had no more justification to exist! if hariri was behind them it s his problem not mine as i never backed this terrorist militia... see how stupid your asumptions are, poor FT?

and yes hezbollah is a LAWLESS militia, like it or not. aoun said it and i don t change like he and you do...

at least aoun has political benefits from changing wheras you it only shows how easily manipulated you can be by your orange puppet master... a few years back you d say what i m saying now, but as aoun changed you did too just like a faithful sheep you are....

today I posted a comment on my view od how the new map in the region seems to look like in the near future and it was widely rejected by both m8 and m14 :)
the main thing nasrallah is talking about is coexistence and combatting dividing the arab world, that is because he knows shia will not have a place in Lebanon especially between Israel and the hostile new Syria, as well as the internal rejection of hizbushaitan as is.
if he decides t change course there might be a window to keep Lebanon united.
but will he (or is he allowed) to take that step?
so far all indications is that he is not willing to change course.

if he desides to change course or not is the SAME...lebanon will always be UNITED.NASRALLAH SAYS:"secterian ..religious...ethnic divisions? is he not secterian,or religious or ethnic?farsis started it,wahabies followed, and they will both fail...there is no place for garbage in lebanon.

nasrallah speech shows that he is trying to save what can be saved! lol! never did he mention syrian refugees before while they ve been coming to lebanon for more than a year now! seems he wants to please the syrian opposition by trying to look "humanitarian" LOL!!!!
he kept on minimizing the syrian conflict saying it concerned only a few insignificant cities now he is asking for a political solution! he knows bashar is in a difficult position as he is !! lol

This guy is a complete contradiction. A babbling magpie. Every malady that he has identified in Lebanon, he and Hezbollah are the primary perpetrators thereof. The cure for the ailments that Nasrallah has identified is the dissolution of Hezbollah and the return of Nasrallah to Iran. If he did this, then every problem that he has identified that exists in Lebanon will be ameliorated.

In general Hassan, those who have duties must have rights. In your case, you give all the duties to the state and all the rights to Hezbollah.
The state's DUTY is to solve the issue of the pilgrims despite HA's adventures in Syria. The state has to beg the US for assistance for the refugees. But Hezbollah has the right to legally kill 7 people for assassinating one of their thugs, to bomb away whomever they dont like, HA has the right to have weapons.
Hassan, the day you stop having duties, you stop having rights. Return your weapons.

we’ve been hearing about HA going to Syria however no proof was ever presented, except for some bearded thugs in dechdeche stating so, and then finally we have the Harriri/sakr scandal proving that those 2 "lebanon firstewjyeh" where the one smuggling weapons to the Syrian salafis weapons used of course to butcher the "infidels" infidels being Christians Druze Chiaa and non salafi Sunnis. So please read more acquire some culture and then state

Translation: "We the Shia are screwed in the near future. ASSad is falling. Even though Syria opened the borders for Shia on the run from bombing in 2006, we really don't want to open the border for the Sunni. But I have to say this publically because I have shabiha, mercenaries, and snipers in Syria killing the Sunni and everyone knows it. I need to utter false words to pretend I am a man of the people even though no one believes my words anymore. Even the Palestinians have turned their backs on us."

“The Lebanese must commit to the unity of their nation, land, people, and institutions,” he stressed......... Nicely said Sayyed, now lets translate that into action:
1) Give up your arms to the Lebanese Armed Forces
2) Replace your Islamic Resistance with a Lebanese Resistance (Swiss Style)
3) Give up your control of the communication network and give it to the State
4) Give up your control of the Tyre Port and the Beirut Airport to the State.
5) Stop collaborating with foreign regimes to assassinate Fellow Lebanese Leaders.
6) Remove all red lines and security zones.
7) Start paying for electricity and subject your followers to the same laws and duties.
8_ Finally do not allow for your flag to fly higher than the Lebanese flag, also change it to look more non-secular and more Lebanese please.

- what about the Future arms we see in Saida and tripoli: the HA weapons are used to fight Israel but the Future weapons are her to kill fellow Lebanese.
2- the saraya el mukawama already exists and it has resistant from all communities
3-what communication network, the one Minister Nahass took for the Future thugs, and rifi disobeyed direct orders because of it, or the solidere one?
4-it's already governed by the state unlike solidere
5-wasn't sakr an harriri who were sending weapons to the salafis?
6- those exists everywhere: koreitem, Meerab, beit el wasssat..
7-the highest rate of non-paid bills and electricity hteft are in Tripoli and aakar , read the EDF report on that

yeslam temmak ya helicopter and here i would like to add few things:
1- i would add to item # 4 give up your control to some sections in the port of beirut customs.
2- stop all your mafia activities hidden under religious pseudo cover in lebanon and overseas.ie: drugs manufacturing and dealing, stolen cars and merchandise traffic, money laundering, tax evasions, credit card fraud,etc......
3- compensate and or return all the real estate properties you acquired by cunning and or by force throughout lebanon to their rightful owners, ie: dahiye,haret hreik, ouzai, raml el 3ali, roueissate,lassa, etc...

How can he propose to open the borders without thinking of the consequences of the mess it would create? That's a very stupid suggestion.

Every time he speaks, he's saying more and more absurdities. Too bad some people believe every word he says, and he was telegraphing the Lebanese government basically.

And this "Christians have been allowed to practice their traditions ever since the beginning of Islam."???? Hello....Christianity happened 700 years prior to Islam, so what is he talking about? PLUS Christians are part of Lebanon's history and its future and that will NEVER EVER CHANGE.

And yes, you are a terrorist organization. You are terrorizing the Lebanese people.

He doesn't want them closed because it would hinder the operations of HA--nothing more. There is probably an element that is recognizing that ASSad is on his way out in Syria and the perception of HA as Syrian/Iranian mercenaries fighting for the regime is not recognized as a good thing by him (took him long enough).

He acted nervous. He knows something will happen and he's trying to be "good" friends with the Syrian Sunnis for he knows they soon will flood into Lebanon and take it against the filthy militia and its crownies. No militant Baath, Shiite and Alawi will be allowed after this. Surely if they can defy Assad and a highly trained and equipped national army, they will feel confident fighting militias.

to flame thrower of sorts, why is it that every time someone post something about your god Nasrallah you try to turn the post around and take the problem to KSA. Nasrallah is supposedly lebanese and I believe the various posters on this sight are too. My question to is why do you feel he has the right to pass judgement make comments or statement about lebanon and countries that have nothing to do with him but you seem to attack the various posters and denegrate them for their views opposing to yours.

I think you should refrain from commenting anymore which in turn my go so far as to help improving our civil confidence in our way of life and not worry about KSA, Qatar, Syria or anyone else for that matter.